I. Field of the Invention
This invention relates to digital time displays which are useful for monitoring real time for general purpose timekeeping, as well as chronographic time sequences useful for specialized timing of discrete intervals encountered in various activities, such as games, sporting events, contests, cooking, examinations and countless others.
II. Description of the Prior Art
The current timepiece market, particularly wristwatches, offers many models which provide displays of real time for general purpose timekeeping of the user""s normal daily activities, as well as chronographic timekeeping sequences useful for measuring the duration of discrete time intervals in special circumstances.
For example, a parent may rely on the real time display of a wristwatch to travel to, and arrive on time at, an athletic event in which his or her son or daughter will be a participant. Then he or she may switch the display to an up counting chronographic sequence to time the child""s performance in a foot race by accruing the total amount of elapsed time between the start of the race and when he or she crosses the finish line.
As another example, a student may generally keep watch of his study time in order to complete it and arrive on time at a test of predetermined, scheduled time duration, say 90 minutes. Then he or she may switch his or her time display by presetting it to a 90 minute chronographic display, initiating the display to count down at the beginning of the test and thereby continuously monitor the time remaining throughout the 90 minute interval.
III. Recognition of Problems in the Prior Art
While such combinations of real time and chronographic time displays and functions are desirable and useful, especially in wristwatches, they have characteristics which present complications and problems. In particular, such products require manipulation of multiple crowns and/or buttons in varied and complex sequences which are perceived by many as difficult to perform even with the aid of written instructions in an owner""s manual, and nearly impossible to memorize and perform by recall from memory, without reference to the manufacturer""s instructions.
As a result, some consumers who have been attracted to the potential versatility and flexibility of multifunctional wristwatches of the type described above have experienced disappointment and dissatisfaction with the operational difficulty of using them to full advantage, particularly in the chronographic modes. Therefore, there has been a need to reduce or eliminate such problems in order to provide more easily operable wristwatches and other timepieces having multichronographic time sequence functions.
The present invention addresses and substantially alleviates or overcomes the above-discussed problems by providing ordered sequences of chronographic timekeeping which are far less difficult or complex than the conventional practices that exist in the current art. More particularly, the invention is based upon use of a single control element, for example, a push button, dedicated to begin one type of chronographic time sequence, for example, up counting time to determine the length of a chosen interval. This is followed by a singular series of manipulations which enable performing all of the functions of initiation, stopping, or optionally interrupting, resetting and repeating such sequences just by use of the same button. Likewise, the invention provides another single control element, for beginning and carrying out an opposite down counting chronographic time sequence, which permits initiation, presetting a defined time interval, and then starting it to count down to a zero end point, or optionally interrupting the down count, and repeating the sequence as often as desired just by use of the same control element.
In addition, the invention preferably includes optional further variations of the foregoing chronographic sequences such that each of the up counting and down counting sequences may be modified at the user""s option to temporarily stop the function at any chosen initial time, with a display thereof for a long enough interval to enable viewing and/or recording it, while the function continues to run in memory. After such interval, the display reverts to a display of the ongoing function until it is stopped again at either a second chosen time, in the case of incrementing time, or automatically reaches zero, in the case of decrementing time. In this way, dual or multiple time intervals can be stopped and separately measured, again by use of the same single dedicated button.
Finally, and preferably, another control element may be provided which can be used to switch the display back and forth, at will, between real time and an ongoing chronographic time function, thus providing complete selectivity and flexibility of choice during such periods.